Chasing The Cure

Chapter 5: Moonlight Touch

The next few days were uneventful. Archie asked around, trying his best not to seem too suspicious as he attempted to inquire about the healer from the West. So far, nobody seemed to have ever heard anything about her. Archie was beginning to get tired, but he was adamant about not losing hope. Somebody had to know something.

He planned to be more methodological about it. He made a list of people that Sammy knew, which was a long one as the man was quite outgoing and popular. Someone that knew Sammy must have told him about the healer, so Archie just needed to figure out who it could be.

On the other hand, with the upcoming ball, nobles from different regions had already started arriving at the castle. This meant that Archie had a lot of extra work at the stables and barely any free time to go around interrogating people.

Kenric, too, was growing increasingly busy. Whatever free time they both did have, they tried to spend it together. It was proving to be difficult, as there were many more prying eyes now so they had to be extra careful in how they acted when they were out in the open.

"—We need to increase security near the entrances. I was thinking we could—" Kenric was interrupted by the door of the meeting hall opening.

All the eyes turned towards the guard that had entered. He walked to the King, bowing down as he greeted him before raising his arm forward with a letter in it. It had a royal seal, one that Kenric recognized.

"A messenger just dropped this off, Your Majesty. It is a letter from King Alfred," the guard said. Godric nodded, taking the letter from him. The guard excused himself and then left.

Godric opened the letter, going through the contents of it. He furrowed his brows, a soft frown on his face as he read it. Kenric mirrored the expression, there was nobody that hated King Alfred more than Kenric, and he desperately wanted to know what he had said.

"What is in the letter?" Kenric asked. Godric looked up at him, his expression calm yet calculating, he then lightly shook his head.

"We will discuss the letter afterward. What were you saying regarding the security of the ball? Continue, brother."

Kenric nodded stiffly, if Godric did not want to talk about the letter in front of the other council members, then it was either something irrelevant or something too concerning to be talked about openly. Kenric highly doubted that it was the former. Godric may have a great poker face, but Kenric knew his brother. He knew when something was wrong, and that is what his experience was telling him.

The meeting ran long, Kenric wanted the others to leave before he could question his brother about the letter, but Godric was the first one to exit the hall. That was uncharacteristic of him, as the two brothers usually stayed behind once everyone else left to discuss private matters. This both confused and scared Kenric.

Kenric went to the stables after supper, but Archie was not there. Kenric did know where Archie would be, though, so he made his way through the forest down to the river.

He knew his lover well, as he was right there, in the water taking a bath.

Kenric leaned against a tree, his hands in his pockets as he watched Archie, whose back was facing the prince. Archie dipped in the water, before emerging out of the surface. The droplets cascaded down his lean body, and Kenric almost forgot how to breathe. The stable boy's sun-kissed skin glistened, the cool water sending a shiver down his spine, and the mesmerizing sight sending one down Kenric's.

Archie ran a hand through his wet, tousled hair, unaware of the eyes on him that were admiring his graceful movements. Kenric was almost frozen, standing captive to the man's beauty. He could not help but smile too, at the carefree and peaceful demeanor of the stable boy.